Hope or No Hope?

Down and up the hills, through the spear and thorn grasses, I went barefooted in my worn-out dress that my father had bought for me the year before he died. It was all I had left and his coat 🧥 that was sheltering me from the little raindrops throughout my journey. I couldn't take the main road, so I had to take the small village roads in the hills just in case they were to look for me.

Arriving at Mwengura, I started asking house by house for Joyce until I got directions to her house. "Anybody home?" I called out. Joyce opened the door. Before she could ask who it was, she noticed it was me, the daughter to her gone friend. "My poor child!"she said, sobbing . At that moment, I couldn't stop myself self from crying to. she hugged me tightly, and for the first time in my life, I felt some warmth and comfort from someone. "You've lost weight, my dia child," she said. I couldn't believe she even noticed that. The last time she saw me was at my father's funeral though we didn't talk to each other due to the situation. she looked at me from my head to the feet and noticed everything wasn't okay according to my appearance ,so she dared not to ask anything.

All I did was cry, for I didn't even know what to say. she took me inside and offered me food. It was the leftover food of the night before since it was early in the morning, and she hadn't prepared anything. I was starving, I grabbed the sweet potatoes and ate like as if someone was after me. I hadn't eaten for some days, so I wanted to fill my stomach as much as I could. Joyce, who was sitted next to me not getting her eyes off me, told me to eat slowly for the food was all mine, and I din't need to worry. she offered a cup of water to me and then went to prepare some clothes for me.

I later narrated all my story to her, she couldn't believe her ears. she silently sobbed for sometime while deciding on what to do next.she couldn't let me stay at her home since it was near Kachwampare, the village I had escaped from. My stepmother would find me at anytime since she always came to Mwengura during the weekends to take alcohol with her friends. Joyce had to invite her daughter Juliet home and narrated all that had happened to her. She offered to take me with her to her home in mbarara city. she promised to take good care of me like her own daughter and even send me to school like other children. I was overfilled with joy. I couldn't believe that I was also going to go to school.

All that joy seized as we approached Julie's home. The Julie I saw at Mwengura was nolonger the Julie I noticed as we entered her house. At first I thought that maybe she was tired but I didn't know that something similar to what I had escaped was waiting for me in Julie's house.

WHY? what had eight year old me done to deserve such a life?